MASS submitted various letters concerning the crisis standards of care and other concerns related to COVID-19. Here is a letter to Dan Tsai, Assistant Secretary of Mass Health about COVID-19 and Massachusetts residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities in congregate settings.

MASS submitted various letters concerning the crisis standards of care and other concerns related to COVID-19. Here is a letter to the DPH about hospital visitation policies for persons with disabilities.

Kamisha Heriveaux is a self-advocate liaison and editor of The Mass Flash. She is also a wheelchair-bound 26-year-old and was born with Cerebral Palsy.

“I do feel like there are moments I do feel alone, I have my moments” said Heriveaux. “I do everything you can do, I just do it differently and with a wheelchair."

During this pandemic, social distancing has been especially difficult. She was accustomed to her routine.

Heriveaux is earning her GED and wants to go to school for photography.

Passion, Purpose and Power: Changemaking through Awareness and Action

Awareness & Action, a program of Mass Advocates Standing Strong and the first of its kind in Massachusetts, is a three-hour, interactive training by people with disabilities for people with disabilities on recognizing and responding to abuses committed against adults with disabilities. It addresses five types of abuse: physical, sexual, neglect, verbal and financial - through five powerful video vignettes. Meet John Mullaly and Pauline Bosma, two of A&A’s most experienced self-advocate trainers.

“In honor of Developmental Disabilities Month, representatives of the Patrick administration, members of the Legislature and advocates gathered today at the State House to celebrate the upcoming name change of the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) to the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), which will take effect on June 30…”